Enrolments of the children with disabilities in the pre-primary and primary education across Bangladesh continued to plunge for the second consecutive year in 2024.
After the peak in 2022 with 1.5 lakh, the enrolments of such children dropped to 1.25 lakh in 2023 and further to 1.02 lakh in 2024, according to the Annual Primary School Statistics 2024 published by the Directorate of Primary Education recently.
Among these children, the enrolments of girls were lower than the boys.
Ramp facilities for the children with disabilities are still inadequate at the government primary schools, the report observed.
On the contrary, the number of people with disabilities continues increasing in the country.
Disability rights activists and campaigners blamed negligence and a lack of coordination among the authorities concerned for the plunge in enrolment of children with disabilities.
They also said that the number of girls with disabilities in the pre-primary- to primary-level education was lower as their guardians did not want to send them to schools fearing sexual abuse.
The directorate under the primary and mass education ministry published the report at the end of July on its web site.
As per the report, the trend analysis of the enrolment of children with disabilities at pre-primary to Class V shows a gradual increase 鈥� from 1,21,766 in 2018 to 1,25,136 in 2021. In 2022, there was a notable spike in enrolment with 1,50,171 entries.
The report did not mention the reason for the decline in the enrolment after the 2022 peak.
The Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2023, conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, shows that in 2023 in every 1,000 people 28.2 had some form of disabilities.
The number of people having some form of disabilities in every 1,000 people was 25.5 in 2022 and 24.1 in 2021, according to the Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2022.
In the Annual Primary School Statistics 2024, data on the children with disabilities at pre-primary to Class V revealed that boys generally outnumbered girls across all categories of disabilities, with girls鈥� enrolment percentage of 43.9 per cent.
As per the report, the types of disabilities are physical, visual, hearing, speech, intellectual and learning disabilities.
On the other hand, considering the core facilities for children with disabilities, 32,058 government primary schools have ramp facilities, which represents 48.9 per cent of the total 65,567 government primary schools, indicating significant government efforts towards making schools more accessible, the report observed.
The report did not mention the situation of ramp facilities at the non-government primary schools.
Centre for Disability in Development senior coordinator Jahangir Alam, an inclusive education specialist, alleged that from the school authorities to the primary and mass education ministry, all showed negligence towards the children with disabilities.
鈥楳ost of the schools lack trained workforce to handle these students,鈥� he said, adding that authorities of most of the schools did not understand the different types of disabilities.
In most cases, children with disabilities enrolled in schools at much higher ages compared with the healthy children and the schools do not want to admit them at those ages, he mentioned.聽
Jahangir said, 鈥楲ack of coordination among the ministries of health and family welfare, social welfare, women and child affairs and primary education is also causing this decline.鈥�
He observed that representatives from these authorities did not visit every house to send children with disabilities to schools.
鈥楾he enrolment of girl students at pre-primary to primary schools is lower than the boys due to possibilities for sexual abuse at schools or on the ways to the schools,鈥� Jahangir added.
Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation executive director Md Saidul Huq said that due to the 2024 political changeover in the country, the number of children with disabilities might have declined past year.
鈥榃ith the increasing number of people with disabilities, the enrolments of children with disabilities at schools should have been increased instead of decreasing,鈥� he added.
Nationwide 1,18,607 primary education providing schools were covered by the APSS 2024.
The enrolments of children at pre-primary to Class V were 2,01,83,048 鈥� 98,53,962 boys and 1,03,29,086 girls 鈥� in 2024.